English Vocabulary for learners
Expressions with 'COME'
from: 'come
apart' to: 'come what may'
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Come apart at the seams | Be extremely upset or under severe mental stress | "Bob has had so many problems. He's coming apart at the seams." |
| Come to a bad end | End in disaster | "If that boy doesn't change his ways, he'll come to a bad end." |
| Come to blows | Start to fight | "The participants in the debate almost came to blows." |
| Come clean | Tell the truth; Make a confession |
"The boy was advised to come clean and say what happened." |
| Come close | Almost do or achieve something | "Tom didn’t find the solution but he came close." |
| Come to the crunch | Become critical and a decision has to be made | "I'm short of money. If it comes to the crunch, I'll sell my car." |
| Come to an end | Stop or finish | "Emily was sad when her internship came to an end." |
| Come to grief | End in failure | "The plan for a park came to grief when a housing development was voted.." |
| Come to grips | Understand and deal with a problem | "The patient began to come to grips with his disability." |
| Come in handy | Be useful some time | "Those old shelves may come in handy one day." |
| Come to a head | Reach a point where action must be taken | "The conflict came to a head yesterday when rioting broke out." |
| Come hell or high water | Do something whatever difficulties are encountered | "Come hell or high water, I'll get there in time for the meeting." |
| Come into one's own | Obtain rightful recognition of your ability or talent | "The talented pianist has at last come into his own." |
| Come in all shapes and sizes | Many different types are available | "Armchairs come in all shapes and sizes." |
| Come to life | Become more lifelike, real or active | "The painting comes to life if you look at it long enough. “Flowers come to life when spring arrives.” |
| Come to light | Be revealed, exposed or become known | "New evidence has come to light during the investigation." |
| Come to mind | Appear in your mind; think of something | "I’m looking for a solution but nothing comes to mind." |
| Come into play | Start to have an effect on a situation | "In outdoor sports, the weather can come into play." |
| Come into the picture | Become involved in a situation | "I missed the bus and needed a place to sleep. That’s where my friend Sam came into the picture." |
| Come into view | Appear; become visible | "When we took the next street, the sea came into view." |
| Come to the point | Start talking about the important issue | "After a long introduction, he finally came to the point." |
| Come to power | Take office; gain political control | "The tyrant came to power by rigging the elections." |
| Come prepared | Arrive ready for a particular event | "She was advised to come prepared for the interview." |
| Come rain or shine | No matter what the weather or other circumstances may be | "My parents go walking every morning, come rain or shine." |
| Come to your senses | Start to think clearly and behave sensibly | "He finally came to his senses and dropped the idea of buying a sports car." |
| Come to terms | Gradually accept a stressful event or situation | "It took time to come to terms with the sudden death of my father." |
| Come under attack | Be assaulted or aggressed | "Several policemen came under attack during the riot." |
| Come up in the world | Be richer than before and have a higher social status | "My old school friend has come up in the world since we were kids!" |
| Come up roses | The situation turns out well in spite of the difficulties | "After several lost matches, everything now seems to be coming up roses for the player." |
| Come up trumps | Achieve unexpectedly good results | "Our team came up trumps in the cup final." |
| Come with the territory | Has to be accepted as part of the job | "All actors have to expect media coverage - it comes with the territory!" |
| Come out of the woodwork | Appear out of nowhere | "When we added the swimming pool, our children had 'friends' coming out of the woodwork!" |
| Come what may | No matter what happens | "Come what may, I'm going to tell the manager what I think." |
see also:
English idioms
list of expressions
more expressions
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